


riding the night sky (take a chance on me)

by liveonanon



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Akashi/Aomine - offscreen, Akashi/Kagami/Aomine - hinted at, Alternate Universe - 1950s, Alternate Universe - 1960s, Aomine/Kuroko - kinda, Cuddling & Snuggling, Dirty Talk, Kagami has the best suggestions sometimes, Kise/Kagami - hinted at, M/M, Midorima fears for his boss' safety, Naked Cuddling, Train Sex, Trains, does this count as infidelity?, kink emperor!Akashi, master of dirty talk!Akashi, sad!lovelorn!Kagami, somewhat compassionate!Akashi, taking advantage!Akashi, wow that is actually a tag
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-13
Updated: 2014-05-13
Packaged: 2018-01-24 14:10:35
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,884
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1607984
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/liveonanon/pseuds/liveonanon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AU - postwar Japan.  Akashi, a businessman, climbs onboard a train bound for Tokyo after a successful business meeting.  His peace is interrupted by a scruffy, tall redhead with no class, no money and no filter for his mouth.  </p><p>(At least the package is sweetened generously with eye candy.  Now, to see if the newcomer is up for some mutual partaking...)</p>
            </blockquote>





	riding the night sky (take a chance on me)

**Author's Note:**

> This story came to life after I rode the sleeper train in Thailand (Bangkok --> Chiang Mai) and found out they were originally Japanese. Cue some research, some asking around the older coworkers, and voila, fic. 
> 
> I purposefully made year, train times, locations and ages vague, because I haven't done much research on the postwar Japanese miracle. Thus, please overlook any historical discrepancies; I'm sure there are scholars out there who would love to nitpick my made-up cultural details apart, but if you could please refrain, thank you.
> 
> That said, I hope I have captured even a little bit of what I imagine Akashi's headvoice to be: a little bit pompous, a lot arrogant, and a little naive. Willful, witty, sharply sarcastic, and self-scathing in turns. _Complicated._ Really, he is the last character I expected to love (but here I am).

riding the night sky (take a chance on me)  
2014.05.13

 

Midorima had asked him twice before conceding defeat. His face had been pinched under his hat, though Akashi couldn't be sure if that was from his decision or from the heat. His right-hand man furiously wiped his brow, cooking in his suit, but Akashi had purposefully dressed light for the occasion.

"I need a vacation, even if it's only for one night," he said sweetly, watching the divot between Midorima's brows grow deep at the words. "You're the one who's always saying I should relax."

"I didn't mean that in the sense that you should spend a night rubbing elbows with people lower than you -"

"Don't you know, we're all equal now." And Midorima flinched away at the suggestion, even as Akashi's face remained smooth and impassive. It hadn't even been Midorima's company that had half its assets seized and taken away, its factories ransacked and its leader bludgeoned to death under police batons. _An accident,_ they had said. It had been an accident the day his mother went missing too.

"And you know I find the plebians so amusing," he added with a trace of real humor. Midorima snorted as one who had come from plebian stock. "A night in the common sleeper train won't kill me, I've heard they actually sanitize those things regularly. I'm booked First Class anyway."

Midorima tried one last time. "I could still find a driver to take us down during the night -"

"I hate sleeping in cars, Shintarou. You know that." He picked up his bags - like a normal traveler, ha - and strode towards the station, Midorima following him hastily. "The train arrives at eight in Tokyo tomorrow morning, so have someone waiting to pick me up. I won't be pleased if I'm made to wait." He could already see the half-day stretching before him, inevitably boring as watching grass grow. Still, it was a chance to think and act - _by himself_.

"The security on the train -"

"Is sufficient enough to protect all the passengers on the train," Akashi replied firmly.

"Aomine -"

"Will meet me when I arrive in Tokyo, or else."

"The food -"

"Is hardly up to par with what I'm used to, but hasn't killed anyone else yet that I know. I think Takamatsu-san would have been dropped from the _keiretsu_ if that had happened, his position is quite precarious as it is."

Midorima sighed as Akashi held out his hand for money and the girl at the ticket counter watched their by-play with her mouth twitching. Midorima surrendered his wallet with another thinly disguised look of worry, watching mutely as Akashi paid the woman.

Finally they were at the train - painted blue angles, steel-clad sides, narrow and glaring windows for front eyes, and how was it people were surprised to find Akashi had never bought into the romanticism of train journeys? - and Akashi turned to his second-in-command one last time. "I leave it to you to attend the dinner party without ruffling any feathers, Shintarou."

"You could postpone the meeting at lunch tomorrow, if you tried," Midorima suggested sulkily. 

"My influence hardly reaches that far, you saw how Seiho scolded me yesterday and today for being the remnant of a _zaibatsu_. What was it he said exactly? That's right - _beating the dead horse of a shit-fabricating steel industry_."

"Jumped-up little aristocrat," Midorima muttered sullenly. This time Akashi really was hard-pressed not to smile.

Instead he placed a hand on Midorima's shoulder. It made his second-in-command jump, since Akashi rarely touched anyone, especially when there was nothing to gain from it. But Akashi could understand Midorima's concerns, perhaps better than anyone else in the world. He could still remember the hands, shaking him awake, and the cold cradle of the phone pressed in his ear, telling him his father was dead and that at eighteen, he was now in charge of 15,000 people. Whatever perspective he had in life had undertaken a 180-degree change after that.

Midorima held perfectly still after his surprise, though he did peek up at Akashi's face. "I'll be alright. I'll tell the conductor to place a call at the next stop if anything goes wrong." And because he couldn't resist making Midorima squirm a little, he said a little more authoritatively, "Just make sure Matsushita doesn't try to wriggle out of our agreement. That would be a waste of good alcohol." He had imported the finest English scotch to feed that impertinent oversized buzzard.

"Right," Midorima agreed, the pulse jumping rapidly in his throat above the line of his shirt and tie.

Akashi took pity on him, said his goodbyes, and stepped into the cool confines of the train.

They had installed air conditioning not too long ago - _state-of-the-art technology during your goodnight stay_ \- the newspapers had boasted. The name was fanciful too - _Ginga_ [1], indeed. Still, there was no discernible discomfort in First Class; with its wooden paneling, red curtains, gold-painted doors and smartly dressed attendants, it seemed hardly a trial to share a compartment for a night.

He found his seat with little trouble, setting his bags beneath his bunk. Above his head was the rounded compartment that hid the upper berth, which the cabin attendant would make up once the seatmates agreed it was time to sleep. He studied it for a moment, noting its clean lines and rounded belly, before turning again to the window. Midorima stood right outside, and they exchanged chit-chat until it was time to leave.

His second-in-command watched solemnly as the train departed the platform, then at the very edge he daringly waved. Akashi didn't hold back his smile this time, knowing Midorima was too far to see it, and raised his hand as well. He watched long minutes until the Osaka train station disappeared from view.

He spent a very peaceful hour reading a book before his compartment door banged open and a disheveled, far-too-tall man stepped in. He quickly closed the door behind him and pulled the door window shades down.

Akashi studied him, and then politely made room on the couch. The newcomer took a seat with a relieved huff and immediately threw his head into his hands. "Worst decision _ever_ ," he mumbled to himself.

After the interruption (and the promise of new entertainment), Akashi was reluctant to return to his book, so he set the bookmark where he had left off. The newcomer was irritatingly big even sitting and hunched over, perhaps as tall as Aomine. He also had a shock of red hair he released from under a worker's cap before grousing some more under his breath. And then he sighed, maybe three times, staring blankly at the other wall where Akashi's lone coat hung waving gently in tandem with the _clak-clak_ of the train. Really now, what was with the sighing today? Between Midorima and this new person, they could give those girls in the dancing halls a run for their money as they watched those Elvis impersonators. Or maybe they didn't sigh so much as squeal - Akashi couldn't claim to understand modern women anymore.

"Something bothering you?" Akashi asked.

The newcomer blinked and visibly shook himself out of his daze. He backpedaled hastily with, "Uh, er. Sorry for barging in like that," before leaning back with a huff of wistful disappointment. "I just...I was waiting for someone. And they didn't show."

"I'm sorry." Ah, love troubles. Perhaps it was time to go back to that book now.

The newcomer wryly glanced back at him. "You don't sound it."

Akashi reflected on that. "I sound perfectly polite, I'll have you know."

The newcomer snorted. "Perfectly polite doesn't cut it when you're supposed to mean it. Taking takes heart...and giving too," he said, sounding as if it was quoting someone.

Akashi had no idea who he was supposed to be quoting, and was a little irked that he had once again been shoved into the category of _unfeeling_. "And what exactly am I supposed to take away from this?"

Instead of shying away from his acidic tone, the newcomer laughed. It was an easy gesture, one that Akashi instantly marked as the man doing not infrequently, by the laugh lines in his face. It smoothed his otherwise ferocious set of bustling eyebrows and rather predatory demeanor. 

"Take what you want from it, I was just making a comment."

"Small talk is not necessary, as we are strangers not involved in business."

"Hey, we could be involved in business! You never know..." The stranger trailed off, blushing and abashed.

Akashi lifted an eyebrow. "Us, doing business, with you in those clothes?" The stranger flushed further, clearly aware of the crumpled quality of his pants and the collar of his shirt, as well as the well-worn band of his cap. Then his shoulders set and he tried to look Akashi in the eye as confident as he could. _Like a kitten trying to outglare a boa constrictor._

Akashi couldn't resist teasing a little more. "Ah yes," he pretended to think, and then smirked. "Yes. _That_ kind of business."

The newcomer didn't get it for a long moment, mouth opening and shutting with confusion, until abruptly he _did_ get it. His blush spread to the tips of his ears even as his jaw worked for words, and inwardly Akashi laughed with delight to see him so unsettled and at a loss for words. How fun! "Am I wrong to assume that is why you are on this train?"

There was a moment where the newcomer stiffened, and Akashi prepared himself for the denial - but then in a softer, neutral voice, he answered, "I work the railways, yes." When he spoke, he looked straight at Akashi in a way that very few people dared to look. His eyes were clear with...well, not truth, but determination, perhaps. 

Obviously this one had no idea who he was. "You...'work the railways', you say?"

"Yes," the newcomer repeated defiantly.

The door to their compartment opened abruptly. A portly train inspector stood blocking the entrance with his blue uniform-clad body, a clipboard in his hand. "Can I see your tickets, please?" Akashi handed his over with a pleasant smile and a slight shrug when the conductor asked if his stay was pleasant so far. "The dining car's two over - just head towards the front of the train."

"Thank you, sir," Akashi responded, because he figured that was what regular people did.

"And you?" 

The newcomer was busily turning out his pockets, of which he had quite a bit. Notebooks, scrap paper, a piece of ribbon, the stub of a pencil, more loose papers, loose change, what looked like a chunk of lipstick, a half-eaten bar of chocolate - Akashi raised his estimation of the newcomer, simply because it seemed he had the same stashing ability as women did with hiding the world in their tiny clutch purses. 

"Sir? May I have your ticket?"

"One moment," the newcomer griped.

"Sir, if you don't have your ticket, I'll need to confirm your booking with the booking people. Could you come with me, please?"

"I said just wait a sec, I know I've got it somewhere!"

"Sir, I have other people to check, so I'm sorry but I really can't wait -" The conductor moved forward to grasp the newcomer's arm. The newcomer shook it off.

"I said wait!"

"Sir, I'm going to need you to come with me now -"

"I have a ticket! I just misplaced it somewhere!"

"I understand, sir, they can recheck the booking to find your name then -"

"I know I have it!"

"Sir, please -"

Before the argument could get any more out of hand, Akashi plucked a crumpled paper from the pile. "Oh. Is this it, sir?" Delicately he held the crinkled ticket by one corner out to the conductor, who squinted at the block print and then nodded. "Sorry about that then, here's your stub." He tipped his hat and went out the door, conflict forgotten.

The newcomer seemed carved of stone where the stub had been shoved between his frozen fingers. Akashi, well-versed in conversations to know that this would either be the hiss-splutter of a dud grenade or a blowup of nuclear proportions, waited next to the mountain of miscellaneous doodads with the level-headed zen of an enlightened saint. Finally the newcomer gulped and said, "I have a ticket," and reached into his pocket.

Akashi took the proferred paper and smoothed it out. _Third Class_ , it read. _Car 3, Number 10, Upper Berth._ It was followed by a sum a quarter of what Akashi paid. The newcomer had also scribbled his own name messily in the 'Name' box provided: Kagami Taiga.

"Kagami-san," Akashi greeted, and then because manners had been beaten into him when he was three, he added, "I am Akashi Seijuurou, owner of Nippon Steel and Metalworks."

Kagami's face adopted a comical look of surprise that, unfortunately, Akashi had long become accustomed to seeing. "You? But you look about as old as me!"

"Do try to swallow your surprise, as I didn't ask for the position."

Kagami opened his mouth, probably to say something snarky back, but then changed train of thought abruptly. "You bought the upper berth too," he guessed dubiously.

Akashi inclined his head. "I did. I don't care much for a potential noisy neighbor. I imagined most people staying in First Class would be in the same position as me, except older and perhaps stouter, so I purchased an additional ticket so I wouldn't be bothered by snoring old men, wailing babies, or gossiping women."

"Rich people," Kagami snorted, but it was only half-mocking. Then he snickered. "And you're right - mostly rich old snots."

 _And prime customer base, no doubt._ "You've traveled in First Class before, then? If barging into compartments with single men to give them a bit of jolly for the night is effectively profitable, perhaps I should give it a try."

"You!?" Kagami blurted out. Akashi smiled back serenely. "Uh, I mean, you can do what you like. Though I can't see why you'd want to...go trawling when you already have money." The last word was spat out with a mixture of anger and envy.

 _Not for fun and giggles, then._ "Clean up your mess," Akashi directed, and Kagami began shoving his mountain of trash back onto his person, somewhere. "Do your partners say you snore?"

Kagami paused. "No?" he ventured.

Akashi decided to give him the benefit of the doubt. "Then you can stay. I'll tell the cabin attendant to make our beds while I have dinner." Just as the thought occurred to Akashi, Kagami's stomach also gave an impassioned growl of hunger. "Would you like to join me?"

"Nah, I'm fine." Slumped against the seat with his new ticket, big fingers folding and refolding the paper back and forth with surprising dexterity, Kagami put Akashi in the mind of a squirming, neglected young child rather than a peer his own age. "You go."

He was reminded of the Western adage _You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink_ , and was reminded nostalgically of his own misplaced pride and youth in years past. _I was such a little shit back then - more than I am now, at any rate. Enough to know if I don't do this right, he won't say yes._

Everyone had always said his father was heavy-handed, and the investors and workers had always expected the same from him, so Akashi had grown up to fulfill their expectations. But at the core of it, Akashi also didn't meet many people who begrudged him his forwardness. He had even been thanked for it before. "The ticket is yours, and you can stay here if you like. But I am interested in you and your circumstances. I would rather not waste time, so for me the most time-saving method would be to kill two birds with one stone."

As he expected, Kagami hesitated still. "I'm boring. And I don't want to be a burden."

"If I didn't like you, I would have called for security when you barged in with that silly panicked look on your face. What did you do, hide out in various bathrooms for an hour, dodging the ticket people?"

"Shut up!" The returning blush told Akashi he had been right on the money. "And I didn't look silly. I wasn't _panicked_. I knew what I was doing, I've done it before."

"You looked twitchy, then. Like a rodent."

Kagami gave him a side-eye. "You just wish you were as tall as me."

Akashi did - there were perks that came with the height he wanted and was denied, probably due to his family's genes from both sides, perks such as _looming ominously_ \- but he managed to keep a straight face. "I'm not the one who knocks their head on the top doorframe everywhere."

Kagami rubbed his forehead in remembrance. "S'not my fault they need to change their height restrictions." The edges of his lips curled up, half-turned away as he was from Akashi, anyhow. And Akashi couldn't resist but do the same.

"Come, Kagami Taiga," he said, and the other redhead ducked out of the door behind him with a shared grin.

The corridor swayed over the track like a Chinese lady as he made his way towards the front of the train. Some of the window blinds were pulled shut for the cabins; others showed couples holding hands, businessmen looking over documents, mothers supervising children. All of them looked worse for the wear from the travels; Akashi touched his own slicked-back 'do carefully, glad he hadn't worn a hat like Midorima. He hoped he still looked presentable - that is, _perfect_ \- enough for the high-class dining car.

Blunt, large fingers carefully touched the side of his head, brushing against the tip of his ear and he shivered. He would have turned back to glare, but in the next moment the train jolted and he was thrown back instead, right into Kagami's chest. The same blunt hand reached down to steady his shoulder, reassuringly warm and steady.

"Careful," Kagami warned. Akashi could almost imagine his breath coiling in the curves of his ear. "And you look fine - shoulda known rich people would all be worried about if they looked good enough to eat or what."

 _Do I?_ Akashi wanted to ask. _Do I look so attractive to you?_ He was only half-certain that Kagami hadn't meant it as an innuendo, but the other half of him was - well.

_I did tell Shintarou I would relax..._

Other than that brief touch and the blistering heat while they were crossing the bridge between cars, the two of them reached the dining compartment without further incident. A waiter took them to a rounded double-seater, obviously meant for couples but due to the high volume of traffic during the prime dining hour, meant it was the only two-person table setting available. Without asking Akashi ordered for the both of them, trusting whatever he had would be good enough for Kagami. The waiter didn't even bat an eyelash at the top seven expensive things on the menu being ordered at once, just bustled away with their menus and promised to have their wine soon.

As it turned out, food was not what Akashi should have been worried about. A glance at Kagami revealed the other redhead was wringing his cap back and forth. Akashi had to resist the urge to smack his fingers with a spoon like Murasakibara did when he caught Kise stealing sweets, and instead rapped his knuckles against Kagami's wrist. "Stop that," he said in a low tone.

Kagami stopped, but still looked as if he was holding a strangled chicken, and would start strangling again at the first sign of trouble. "I'm not dressed right," he hissed back. Akashi had noted the same when he entered; there were some very nicely dressed companions at the bar, sequined and lacy dresses falling to the tips of their high heels, chatting with the men Akashi usually bumped shoulders with every day while the men's wives doted on their children at the neighboring tables. Hell, even the quartet playing in the corner was better dressed than Kagami.

"I don't care," Akashi said bluntly. "And if they know what's good for them, they won't care either."

That stopped the strangling act long enough for Akashi to poach the cap and squirrel it from further harm to the far side of the table. "You're gonna, what? Buy them all into submission?"

"Stare them. Or, if ineffective, glare at them."

That made Kagami's mouth twitch upwards. "And that works?"

"I can practice on you, if you like. I've heard the quality is 'basilisk-esque'." He leaned forward a little, just on pretenses, and Kagami humored him by leaning forward too. "It's how I keep subduing my competitors. They just can't look up long enough to sign anything when I'm at the table with them."

Kagami laughed, eyes and nose crinkling, mouth red. His hands clutched at the sofa for a moment and Akashi noted the bulge of the muscles in his arms with a jolt of lust. But he wasn't too surprised - being ropey, tall and strong was what made Akashi pay attention to him in the first place - just a bit anticipatory, at what they might do after this.

His eyes were still glittering in the yellow lamplight as he leaned back to survey Akashi, arms draped invitingly over the back of the couch. _Like an invitation_. "You're a piece of work," he said softly, his lips still pleased and curled - and fully kissable. Akashi wondered if he kissed. Sometimes hookers didn't, but if Kagami gave his permission, he would ensure he didn't regret it. "I like it."

 _I'm starting to like you too_ , Akashi didn't say.

Their food arrived, as did the wine some time ago. Both of them began to eat, arms bumping companiably as they dug into the French fare. Kagami held his Western utensils with a sure touch, Akashi noted, but not sure enough to have done it for very long. He was still too unsteady for that.

And the way he swished his wine... "You aren't supposed to turn it for that long. Just a few circles, then smell, and then taste."

"What am I even looking for when I do it?"

 _Fruitness, acidity, aroma, or simply whether it was to your taste or not..._ For some reason, though, Akashi answered truthfully: "No idea." The two of them shared conspiratorial smiles like children, and continued eating.

It wasn't until third course - and Kagami had blazed through one and two with a speed that spelled extreme hunger, extreme enjoyment, or the erroneous idea that the food would disappear if he didn't eat it fast enough - that Akashi asked him, "So, you waited for this lost love of yours that never showed up. How did this come to pass?"

Kagami paused and then set his fork down decidedly. "He wasn't a... _customer_ ," he pronounced the word delicately. "He was another...worker, like me. Working the trains. He got a chance for a better life, but only if he...threw in his lot with this shady guy. But the shady guy had good connections, so...I guess my offer of leaving to live happily somewhere just wasn't enough.

"I guess I don't understand why, when we came from the same shithole," he growled, suddenly tempermental. "He should know better than that. There are some things that money can't buy - some happiness that gots nothing to do with _having something_. What's so bad about a simple life? What the hell is wrong with just me? He sure wasn't complaining before - what changed? That guy," he hissed, vicious. "That guy stole him away from me. And he freaking let him, knowing he was a cad and a cheat. Guess everyone makes wrong decisions - I just hate that it was against me and my stupid-ass pathetic plans."

Akashi considered this. "You planned to leave home?"

Kagami twitched in surprise, as if he had forgotten Akashi was there. "Uh, yeah?"

"With what?"

"...what do you mean?"

"You said you left your previous home to start a new life. Where is your baggage?"

Kagami stared at him for a long time before, unwillingly it seemed, his lips pulled upwards. "Akashi, I don't got anything else," he said, and his voice was more bitter and resigned than Akashi had ever heard so far.

"How did you get by if you had nothing? Where did you live in the city?"

Kagami shrugged. "Friends, usually. And friends...of another sort," he said vaguely. When Akashi started to look worried, he added quickly, "I trust them all. I just, I didn't come from a very good place, Akashi. It's a miracle I clawed all the way up here at all. I know others who never make it out of the slums."

Akashi had seen them from the rolled-up tinted windows of his car before - shantytowns built in the wake of fire bombings, the flames having ripped home and family away from countless families. Now some of them still remained, crumbling and makeshift on the fringes of the city. Their denizens had stared out at Akashi's sleek black automobile as if it was a rare animal from a whole other world.

"Will it backfire on me or you if we stay together tonight?"

"I doubt anybody will care," Kagami shrugged. "This isn't the line I usually work. I only went down to Osaka for...my friend."

Akashi cut through the prevarication and euphemism to the heart of the matter. "You are close to this friend?"

"Yeah."

"And by his absence he has forfeited your offer?"

"Uh-huh." Glumly said.

"And this friend is, indeed, another man?"

Now Kagami looked at him sharply, having fallen into the trap without realizing it. He could flounder and deny, or come clean - Akashi schooled his expression so that it was neutral and nonjudgmental.

Kagami blinked long once, his dark lashes whisking down. His mouth was taut with unhappiness as he whispered, "Yeah."

Akashi forced himself not to move, not to touch, though something was so endearing about Kagami that he wanted to reach out and do something un-Akashi-like, like hug the oversized lump. "I was not looking to shame you," he said instead, gratified to see Kagami's head come up with a look of relief and curiosity. "And in this case, it would be most duplicitous on my part, since I am the same."

"Oh." And then it sunk in. "Oh - OH! _You?!_ "

Akashi couldn't help it, his lips twitched. "Me," he responded wryly.

"But you're the heir for some...steel company, right? What about, y'know, heirs and stuff?"

"Are you planning my untimely demise already, Kagami? I thought only my competitors did that. I did not expect that from a lowly rentboy."

"I'm not a rentboy, I'm not renting anything. You're the one who _gave_ me that ticket."

"You looked so lovelorn and pathetic, I could hardly leave you hanging. Plus, it was a gift from one admirer to another."

"Admirer?"

"Of men."

"Oh. Right," Kagami said, blushing. "Um. Just for the record, I really don't want to kill you."

Akashi raised his eyebrows. "The next part of that sentence goes something like 'but I'm going to kill you anyway'."

Kagami hastily backpedaled. "No no! I mean it, I'm not out to gut you or anything. Or poison you. Or strangle you to death. I wish you an extremely long-lasting life until you die of natural causes like Alzheimer's, stroke, or heart attack."

Akashi blinked. "You have an obsession with death," he said slowly.

"No I don't. Wait. Okay, maybe I do - just ask K-- er, _my friend_. He'll tell you the only news I ever like to read is stuff about investigations."

"I'm a bit stymied as to how someone dies from Alzheimer's as well."

"You...could think you're still twenty, go swimming in a pool, and never come out?"

Akashi's smile turned just a little bit predatory. "You have such an active imagination," he praised.

But Kagami only ducked his head down into his last bite of duck confit. "That's what he said too," he confided sadly.

Akashi was not to be deterred, however. "I accept the explanation for your inherent bloodthirsty urges, and was wondering if you would prefer to have a more profitable rest of the evening than, say, gutting me and throwing me out of the train window."

Kagami wrinkled his nose. "That would be...messy. Hard to hide." And then, shaking himself out of his mystery-loving fantasies, he added, "Err, what did you have in mind?"

It was very easy to slip one hand under the tablecloth and cup the ball of one knee, and slide it slowly until the tablecloth hid that Akashi was touching Kagami's crotch. The other redhead's breath hitched worryingly, but then as Akashi stroked the bulge once, he let out a long exhale that relaxed every muscle in his body against the sofa.

"Is that a yes?" Akashi asked, knowing the answer.

"How many courses do we have to go?"

"Three."

"Better eat fast, then." If there was a trace of nervousness in Kagami's smile, well, Akashi was on edge too. He didn't usually do _spontaneous_ , he left that to Kise. But he also had learned to trust the approving voice in his head, and right now it was telling him he was making the right choice.

He thought they would only start when they got back to the room, but evidently Kagami had other ideas, because he placed a hand on Akashi's back when they exited the dining car. It stayed there, the big palm resting against his tailbone, again warm like the time before when Kagami caught him. He felt it was unnaturally so, or maybe it was just Akashi's senses lying to him. He wondered if Kagami would feel that hot, or hotter, when they lay naked together.

It seemed to be an eternity before they reached their cabin, put out the 'Do Not Disturb' sign and locked the door. Cabin service had been around while they were gone, so the beds were made, the lower berth barely able to fit the two of them comfortably. Probably. Perhaps if they squeezed a little tighter, and Akashi was glad he had gotten the green light, because that made it okay to think of these things -

Kagami stretched his arms over his head, tossing shirt and vest aside in one go. The fabric landed on the floor dully, but Akashi didn't see it - he only had eyes for what the shirt revealed, centimeter by centimeter: the washboard smoothness of his abs, the wide expanse of his chest, the broad flex of his shoulders and arms. He was scarred here and there, and Akashi wasn't detective enough to suspect how, but they didn't deter from the whole package Akashi couldn't help but label _perfection_.

 _He hasn't even bared the real goods yet_ , his brain reminded him.

But the full package, once Kagami pulled off his pants and shoes in a much shier fashion to set them aside, was just as delicious. More scars, irregularly spread, with one white line down the side that must have hurt very badly when it was cut into the skin, stretched over strong thighs and calves. He had a thatch of hair over his groin, neatly trimmed - Akashi was faintly reminded of Aomine's chortling of _carpet matching the drapes_ \- and his cock was generously proportionate to the rest of his body.

He didn't realize he was staring until Kagami asked, "Like what you see?" He wondered at the nervous tone until he remembered most people couldn't tell whether he was being critical or admiring.

"Adequate," he purred, and was rewarded to see the blush ran all the way down to the middle of Kagami's chest. "You can disrobe me. Slowly."

Both of them jumped when Kagami settled tentative hands on his shoulder and just smoothed down. Big cat-paws - and yes, Akashi couldn't help but inwardly give Kagami all kinds of feline implications, given his funny name - smoothed possessively down the fine silk of his jacket, before unbuttoning the front and lifting back. Akashi let go the first layer of cloth protection without resistance.

Then hands drifted downwards to his belt. It slipped out from its loops, like a hand curling around his waist until it was gone, and the tops of his pants were loose. Then it was his tie and cufflinks, set aside on the little compartment table, and then his hair - Kagami wetted a towel to clean the product off as best he could, leaving Akashi's straight-cut bangs to flop back down again.

"You look younger like this," Kagami said, voice throaty and deep. His Adam's apple bobbed as he spoke and swallowed. Facing each other with Akashi without his layers was almost more intimate than actually being entwined and naked. In the act of stripping the rest away Kagami was careful, cradling his foot for balance to take off his socks and help him step out of his trouser holes, out of his underwear. The last thing he did was divest Akashi of his undershirt, baring all of his skin to the cool air.

Both of them glanced at the door just to check. Locked. 

Kagami licked his lips. "What is - er. Um, do you want me in some way?"

Akashi couldn't help but leer a little at that. "Every way possible."

"We've only got so much time, you know."

Akashi smiled, this time without humor. "Are you prepared to disappoint me enough so I discard you after the first round?"

Kagami looked outraged for a moment before he stepped forward boldly. "I'll have you know I take my job _very seriously_ ," he said, and then they were kissing.

He kissed like Akashi had imagined, except somehow more. More ferocity, more unbridled fervor, more adoration. He kissed like he knew Akashi and wanted him - wanted his fears and doubts, the soul-deep ones that stung their little claws when he hit pockets of uncertainty. The way he clutched greedly at Akashi was almost angry at being denied the chance to become one instantly, and needy for touch and taste. They grabbed blindly for the curtains and ripped half of them off, the hooks dangling as Akashi pushed Kagami down hard. He didn't seem to mind, just started to lick and suck the pulsepoint of Akashi's hand that was twisted in his hair and conveniently close to his mouth.

The passing blurs of scenery, the rattle of the train, even the torn, scant covering they might have had from the rest of the world - Akashi cared about none of it. He couldn't take his eyes away from Kagami's, glinting fierce as a tiger under him. He couldn't ignore the persistent grind of their bodies, or the bruising grasp of those big hands on Akashi's hips.

"I am going to get inside you as many different ways as I can tonight," Akashi promised.

"Then I guess you'd better get started, huh?"

Kagami's cock looked lonely somehow, lying across his thigh. Akashi didn't take the time to wonder what he might look like holding it - ludicrous, perhaps, really there was well-endowed and then there was _blessed by the Gods_ , and Akashi had always leaned towards his mother's gene input in every way - just fit his hand around it and began to pump. Kagami's breathing evened out and slowed, his chest hitching whenever Akashi stopped to rub the pad of his thumb into the tip. "Some - something tells me I should be doing this to you, and not the other way around," he stammered through his gasps. 

"Evidently I'm not doing this right, if you can string a sentence that long."

"Oh, I'm not doubting your abilities to - _hnngh_ \- do right by me, I just think it's unfair -"

Akashi shifted so his hips were within easy reach. "If you insist, then."

He hissed at the first touch of bare skin against his sex. Kagami's fingers were calloused, scarred too with lots of little dings and nips that dragged up and down his cock. Akashi had to focus on simply breathing and feeling for a long minute, hips winding eagerly into the circle of Kagami's hand. It really had been too long, even with Aomine around occasionally to take off the edge, and recently the policeman had been too preoccupied to pay him any mind - leading to this liaison that Akashi usually wouldn't have bothered with, save that Kagami had presented him with the perfect opportunity.

"Do you want anything in particular? Like, in terms of names or something?" There was the slightest hint of a smirk on Kagami's face, and ooh, that was unforgiveable.

He squeezed Kagami's cock in warning and watched at the other half-winced, half-jerked into the touch. "Are you willing to call me _Akashi-sama_?"

"S'your money, your time."

He thought of the ladies his father and their family butler had paraded in front of him before he died - _girls of good standing, pure girls, intelligent girls, girls with good fashion sense, girls with good heart, girls with experience in raising children, young girls_ \- and how they had all looked, each one a singular jewel in their field, selling themselves to him with their demure looks and the promises of their chastity. All calling him by that name. "I do not require you to call me anything other than 'Akashi'. Do you have a preferred name? 'Baby tiger', perhaps?"

Kagami proved turnabout was fair play by squeezing Akashi back. "You call me that, I'll kick you out of bed."

Akashi looked at him with mock-pity. "The war has taught all of us that violence is not the answer."

Wryly Kagami peered up at him through his bangs with his lips in a sarcastic tilt of a smile. Abruptly he dislodged his rider and tumbled Akashi below him in a rapid reversal of positions, and bit the meat at Akashi's chest. It left a red mark when Kagami let up to lap apologetically at it, and Akashi found he could breathe again. His breath hitched when he realized Kagami was slowly moving downwards.

The damp patches of worked-upon skin he left in his wake cooled, and Akashi mourned the warmth even as his heart beat in anticipation. The bed was cramped, but not as bad as it would have been in Second or Third Class, and they both made do by reclining Akashi onto the pillow and Kagami bending double to compensate. He spent some time - _too long_ , Akashi gritted as his cock twitched higher - sucking, biting, admiring everywhere around where Akashi actually wanted him to go. But Akashi would not give him the pleasure of seeing him beg.

Finally he moved to ghost the underside with his breath, followed with a lick up the length, following the vein. Akashi hissed long and loud, half-wondering if the neighbors could hear and half-uncaring. Kagami sucked gently around the base before taking him down in one stroke.

Aomine had never done this, for all their long association, and Akashi had been loathe to let anyone else try. He was fairly certain it couldn't get much better than what he was feeling now, however. How could it be better than the slick suction of Kagami's mouth, the swift fleeting stroke of his tongue alternating with heavier, thick swallows? Kagami's throat bobbed as he took Akashi up and down, and he looked so obscene with his mouth wet with spit. The look in his eyes was focused but even as he sank down to the hilt again, his eyelids fluttered shut and Akashi knew beyond a doubt he was enjoying himself as much as Akashi was.

"You like this," he could barely form the words.

Thankfully Kagami didn't take his mouth away, just blinked upwards and tightened the hand braced on Akashi's hip in agreement. 

Just when Akashi was starting to feel itchy-hot on the inside and drawing whiny, haggard inhales, Kagami pushed his legs further apart. At first Akashi experienced a jolt of anxiety - he had only allowed Aomine that particular act after it became apparent to both of them that neither was going to betray each other's secrets - but then Kagami bent his head again to take one sac into his mouth, then two. He paused briefly to remove a hair from the wall of his mouth - but then he was back, simply stroking his balls with his tongue, encompassing them with warm, wet -

\- his hips rose and he must have whined, or given some sort of sign, because Kagami held him down, his arm a bar of heat against Akashi's pelvis. Finally, finally that blissful, torturous mouth moved away. "You've earned your pay," Akashi was ashamed to find his voice came out little more than a dry croak. 

The grin Kagami flashed him was nothing short of mischieviously filthy. "And we hadn't even gotten to the main course yet. You wanna finger me or wanna watch me do it meself?"

"Why don't you demonstrate a little first," Akashi breathed, knowing the end result already. "Demonstrate, and I'll decide if I want it or not."

"Right." Kagami produced an oddly familiar bottle to coat his fingers with oil. Instantly the room became infused with the scent of lavender.

"You like that scent too," Akashi noted flatly.

"Huh? Naw, I got this from your bag, man." Kagami lifted it to read in the light. " 'Everlot's English Lavender Oil, for massages, relaxation, or room freshening'. Smells okay to me. Too flowery?"

"Shintarou bought it for me and keeps putting it in my briefcase. He seems to think I'm going to need it, no matter how many times I try to throw it away."

Kagami looked close to laughter, even as he spread his cheeks to sprinkle oil down there. "Shintarou? Your lover?"

"Hardly." And Kagami took that minute to completely tune him out, focused on inserting one finger into his ass. "My second-in-command. He can be a fusspot -- you're not listening."

Kagami, eyes clenched closed and sucking long pants from the bottom of his lungs, grunted, "Am listening." He opened one eye, but only briefly since he was caught up with stretching himself. "That - Shintarou-whatever, I bet - I bet he's your friend. Even if you're not - _nnnn_ \- interested in him."

Funny he would say that; most people assumed the opposite. Not that Akashi blamed them, Midorima _was_ the person he spent the most time awake with. "Perceptive of you." Kagami huffed loudly, ending in a low moan, as he shook and shuddered and plundered his own ass. "May I ask how you came to that conclusion?"

It took a long moment for Kagami to respond, and when he did it was a hiss that Akashi had trouble understanding at first. "You - _ahngh_ \- the look in your eyes isn't - _mmmn_ \- not lustful when you - _ahh_ \- you talk about him. You just look normal. Not like you do when you talk to m-me...ee..." The last syllable dragged as Kagami bore down deep, chin tilting up, hips sinking low to get the best angle possible. His eyelashes were dark against his cheek, his eyebrows unclenched from whatever lock normally held them knitted together. He looked...uncoupled. A train loose and rattling free on the track.

Akashi doused his fingers in the oil and slapped Kagami's hand away. "My turn," he said, and climbed on top of him.

Kagami's back held scars too, white and lacy-intertwined. He licked down the path of each one, admiring the bulge and bunch of the strong lateral muscles, the inviting lines of his wingbones. And his fingers weren't as big or long as Kagami's were, but he dove deep enough anyway. Deep enough to feel the moans wreck Kagami's throat as he strained into the pillow. His spiky red head might have been bonking the compartment wall with every thrust, but neither of them cared.

When those moans turned to low howls he deemed both of them ready. He grasped Kagami by the hair - painful, by the look on Kagami's face, but arousing too, by the way Kagami's cock sprang to attention - and arranged gangly arms aside to make way for his own bony knees. "Drink," he commanded, his swollen cock before Kagami's lips. 

Kagami did, though it was more fucking his mouth this time. Akashi braced himself against the wall and thrust with dizzying relief and arousal, until he was fully erect again. "You've been a very good boy, Taiga," he deliberately used his first name, eliciting a head-to-toe shudder as Kagami sucked. "And I reward obedience well. Come, lift your knees. It's time."

"Like this?" By all accounts he should have looked ridiculous, completely naked and half-leaning out of the bed because of his size, with his hands hooked around the backs of his thighs. Yet Akashi could only see the sheen of sweat, pooling in the eddies of his magnificent body, the strong flex of this being given over to him...the reddened, shiny pucker of the entrance to Kagami's body. As he watched it twitched, as if in impatient welcome.

 _You will be the death of me_ , he thought fondly. The tenderness of his own mind caught him by surprise; he had had little left inside of him, or so he had presumed. Certainly the act they were partaking in was not known for its gentility. That would be, as his newest employee might claim, _love-making_.

He stroked the entrance briefly with the tip of his cock, and watched Kagami suck a breath in anticipation, and then disappointment. "Yes," he said, and nudged a little more. But Kagami didn't move, just trembled a little as he panted and waited for Akashi to indulge. "You have been quite the perfect companion tonight."

"Thank you," Kagami gritted out. "Now get on with it."

"Patience." Akashi's hand closed down on Kagami's ballsac firmly in warning, but the other redhead merely knocked the back of his head back against the compartment. Quickly Akashi secured the other around the base of Kagami's cock, to stave off any orgasm. Kagami's groan turned to a whine, but finally he was far down enough from the edge so that he could blearily blink and focus back on Akashi.

"I wouldn't want to take away that reward you've earned," Akashi said sweetly. "For a little impertinence."

"You look like you'd enjoy that," Kagami grumbled.

"In the proper amounts," Akashi agreed, and waited no longer.

It was always a toss-up which he liked more, the first push or the last withdrawal. First push meant feeling the tight ring give way, even as stretched as Kagami was. First push meant being able to watch Kagami's face screw up as the intensity of their joining overwhelmed him. First push meant witnessing from above all of Kagami's body clam up except for his hole, which only pulsed and twitched and pulled Akashi in further. The more inroads he made, the more Kagami thrashed, though his bottom half remained firmly where it was. Akashi had taken over supporting his knees, so Kagami's hands ripped at sheets, pulling them away from the mattress underneath. His lips pulled away from his teeth in an animalistic snarl that made Akashi laugh softly, even as he finally bottomed out, hilt-deep.

"You'd think you didn't like this, looking at your expression," he laughed again as he patted that face, blowing breath like a steam engine and grimacing like he had a red-hot poker poking his side instead of a much more human invasion. "Yet I can read your body's signs. You do enjoy this."

"Just get on with it."

Akashi only chuckled again. "Such impatience."

Vengefully Kagami _squeezed_ all around him, and if Akashi hadn't already been kneeling on his feet, his legs would have crumpled from under him. "You're here - now do it already."

Akashi hummed thoughtfully, but his hips were already pressing deep inside. He felt Kagami's rumble of relief ringing all the way in his bones. He started making small circles, small thrusts, then alternated with long, full ones that made Kagami's breath drag when he pulled out agonizingly slow. As Akashi pounded into him the sure look on his face crumpled slowly into blissful uncaring for everything except for what was touching him deeply, intimately.

"You make a good rentboy," Akashi managed to laugh.

"Tha-hhannks! _Ngh_!" The rest of his words turned to nonsensical gibberish as Akashi relentlessly jabbed at his sweet spot. The only language that passed between them then was what Akashi read in the tremble of Kagami's shoulders and hands, and the needy grasp of Kagami's heels, locked around his waist, spurring him on faster, harder, _more_.

When Akashi came it was with surprise that he was that far gone, and disappointment that he hadn't lasted longer. Oh, but _that_ wasn't that big of a surprise, what with Kagami letting him, pulling him greedily inside. He worried for a moment about condoms and safe sex - but it was too late as the dam burst and he felt himself gush into Kagami's waiting body. 

And to his surprise Kagami came too, vicariously riding the high of Akashi's orgasm. He dirtied himself halfway up to his chest with helpless jerks of ecstasy, seed glooping down his stomach in messy strings. The euphoric quality in his expression took a whole five minutes to dissipate - and in that time Akashi pulled out, cleaned both of them as well as he could, resettled the hooks on the curtains so _now_ no one could see,and then settled them both down face to face with blankets pulled over to keep to chill out.

"Satisfactory?" he queried. It was just as he thought; as long as they negotiated elbows and knees, they could fit cozily onto the lower bunk.

Kagami's eyes were still a bit hazy. "Sorry," was the first thing he said. " ' think I was s'posed to do the...thing." His hand lifted drunkenly from where it had been curled around Akashi to wave vaguely at the rest of the room.

"You're definitely not the type to get going in the next five minutes. In fact, I reckon you're the type that sleeps an hour between bouts," Akashi teased, but as expected Kagami just blinked, confused, and then gave the silliest, happiest little smile in response. 

"And that face is ridiculous, put it away immediately." He was feeling embarrassed for Kagami's stoned features, and they didn't even know each other all that well.

"Uh-huh," was Kagami's hazy response.

They rocked quietly in unison together on the makeshift mattress and sheets in disarray as the train bumped irregularly along the track. Kagami fell asleep for short minutes at a time between watching the night whip past - and they hadn't even thought to close the window curtains, had they stopped at a station while they were having sex? Had they flashed some poor bystander? Akashi couldn't remember at all - and Akashi counted the beats of Kagami's heart without knowing why.

He tried to puzzle the reasons, just for something idle to think about. He could have been a fortune teller, predicting how many more beats would come to pass, slow and fast, before Kagami's heart stopped completely. Or maybe Akashi was trying to find the rhythm, to see if his own matched Kagami. 

Or maybe he was waiting to hear it stop in agony, since Kagami had betrayed his _very good friend_. Had it been experiences with his friend that had lent Kagami such a competent attitude in sex? Had he thought of that friend, desired to lay with him, imagined him as he threw back his head and moaned his completion to all and sundry?

The thought soured all the pleasant feeling from Akashi's nerves, along with all the contents of his stomach. _But isn't that just what he is_ , he resigned himself, _in his line of work how many has he lain with? Countless, if he has done so since puberty._

Still, his mind would not let it go. _One last test_ , he wheedled himself. _Just to see._

"I would kiss you," he said, a short warning before he took.

Kagami kissed less furiously than he had the first time, but with no less conviction. His lips coaxed a sound of want from Akashi's throat; he was really excellent at it. Something about the quality of his kisses made him want more, more and _now_ , or else the magic would fade and they would once again be two different people.

 _No_ , he reflected with certainty. _Somehow I am still convinced he still sees me as I am, and accepts that as something desirable._

The kiss went on for a time, mostly because neither of them wanted to stop. They nipped and twisted their tongues together, hands grasping tight and unyielding. But Akashi wasn't aroused, though he could have been. He was simply comforted by the pattern of moving arms and legs, just slipping past each other, the slide of their bodies as Kagami rolled back so Akashi was on top of him. He dug one hand into Akashi's now-sweat-soaked hair, devoid of any lasting hair product, and stroked his scalp like he would with a cat. Akashi almost purred.

And because the night was cold and empty and they were two strangers met in stranger circumstances, Akashi didn't feel it was wrong to admit: "I find I like you, Kagami Taiga."

Kagami blinked slowly in response, his rational brain slowly coming back to the fore. He settled his arms more comfortably around Akashi before staring at the white metal ceiling of the upper berth and saying, "I'm not actually a rentboy. Cabinboy. Hooker, prostitute - you get the point."

Ah. "That would account for some of the discrepancies," Akashi agreed. He didn't move.

Kagami furtively glanced at him and then relaxed at the lack of censure there. "I really was waiting for someone who didn't show up. And I really did wait for them in Third Class, before I decided I would try to sneak into First for kicks. They have empty bunks a lot of the time, I know."

"Your 'work on the train'?"

Kagami grinned sheepishly. "I was a coal shoveler for a long time. Now I'm getting my conductor's license - or trying to. See, I wasn't lying when I said it would be a simple life for him and me. Simple and fulfilling. Guess things just don't always work out the way you want them to." But he looked far more at peace with that notion than he had when he first explained it, with that devastated look on his face.

"You said this isn't usually your line?"

"I work up north. Twilight Express," he named one of the train lines running all the way to Sapporo. "I've been with Nippon Railways for almost ten years, since I started out as a newspaper boy in front of the station."

"War?" He had to ask, just to see if his predictions matched up.

"Too young. I was, what, twelve when it ended?"

"Where were you?"

Kagami tensed, just as all the survivors did. Like Akashi, too. Finally he settled for words that, like everything else, ineffectively described the hardship they had gone through. "I...was not in a good place, in the beginning. But at least I found another that wasn't so badly burned. I met him there, you know. My friend." 

"Then when you said you both worked the trains, you meant..."

"Yeah. He worked in the dining car." Kagami shifted a little, eyes lost in thought. "He had this thing where he would sneak up on bickering couples in the common areas and ask if anything was wrong. He got a kick out of them when they jumped. It's the little things like that, you know that...make me miss him." Lying comfortably on top of Kagami as he sighed was like having someone push the other side of a very warm, muscled waterbed. "You know...the first time I saw you, I thought you were a little like him."

He half-expected it, yet the truth still stung. Still, Akashi would live with the disappointment. "How so?"

"Well, it was the size first. You're roughly the same height." That wasn't so bad. "And then...well. The way you don't beat around the bush and say things just as they are. It's what convinced me about dinner." There was a little tilt to his lips that Akashi liked, and was dying to kiss off, but he didn't want to ruin the moment. 

At last Kagami exhaled noisily and said, "But you're not really like him at all. You have this...anger in you. And slyness. He's not half as sarcastic as you. I could recognize the anger because it's in me too," and Akashi had to agree, "and you're both bound and determined but...you believe in yourself, in a way that he doesn't. He still thinks good things will happen if he wishes for them; you...you only wish for the things you are sure of, so every wish comes true."

"That _is_ generally how life works," Akashi gave into the urge and leaned up to kiss Kagami. It was slow and winding and both of them sighed as they turned to the side. Kagami fluffed the pillow before propping it on his arm, and gestured for Akashi to roll onto it. Akashi did so, pecking one bicep as he did so. "But I know what you mean," Akashi continued. "I know people like that too. What do you think you are, then?"

Kagami belatedly realized shrugging would move Akashi's head, but Akashi shuffled back into position without complaint. "I guess...I don't know? Both? I'm not saying either one is right or wrong, just...it depends, I think. Some things you can't control, and it's alright to let the chips fall as they may, and accept the outcome. But I think if there's something you yourself can do about it...why not? The challenge could be fun."

"Are you having fun now?" Akashi teased.

"Hell yeah, got a good-looking fella in my bed, riding in First Class after having a delicious dinner...this is the life!"

Akashi admired the laugh lines in Kagami's face before he couldn't look anymore. Kagami was bright, too bright, like...like a light shone out from him, and illuminated everything around him in a better light. Ah, that was too many lights, and no one would understand, Akashi mourned. He doubted Midorima, for all his tact and number-sense, would get something as amorphous as the grasp of a person's soul.

And now he was loathe to let go.

The idea had formed after Kagami had explained his circumstances, and now it expanded again under an itemized list of pros and cons in Akashi's head. To the hum of Kagami's heart in his ear, he toyed with the idea of offering...what? His business sense, honed to a fine sensitivity of what would turn a profit and what wouldn't, hesitated at even taking this first step. Why? He dug deep into his own prevications and denials for the answer.

But the truth was alarming. And humbling to find he still had a heart. 

_The truth is, I am already overfond of him._

And thus he could not let go. However, there was one last question to ask: "What will you do now, about your good friend?"

"That's the question, isn't it?" Absently Kagami kissed the top of his head, nuzzling briefly with his nose like a dog - and even while Akashi's eyes went half-lidded in comfort, he wondered jealously if Kagami's 'friend' had been subjected to the same - before murmuring so no one else could hear, "Way I see it, I got two choices: to go after him or leave him."

"Some might choose to stay in limbo," Akashi said softly. _Waiting for divine providence to tilt the balance._

Kagami shook his head. "Not me. I gotta move, or I'll go crazy."

"Even if you regret it?"

"Just gotta choose the right one, then."

"There are some questions that can't be answered correctly this way or that."

"I think I seen enough of life ta know that." Akashi wondered what else in his life could make him sound so tense and sad. "I also believe that choices are already made when you start thinking about them.

"I guess...there's nothing for me to do but move on."

The churn of emotion in Akashi's stomach abruptly smoothed into clear skies and calm waters. He only let the moment drag long enough as to be polite before announcing firmly, "Come work for me."

Kagami scooted back to look at his face. "I might already. I still shovel coal wherever I'm needed for extra pay, when NR doesn't have me scheduled. A lot of times that's in steel mills." That would account for his polished physique.

"Come work for me directly. We can find you something you like, train you so you can grow into your job, and let you switch if you're so inclined. Nippon Steel has close to twenty thousand employees right now, and five dormitories - even if you're not interested in the business aspect, there are plenty regular jobs in the service industry that we support."

"Wow."

"Thank you."

Kagami snorted. "Way to feed your own ego."

"I disagree with that assumption. Fact is fact." He paused in the middle of persuading to hitch their hips together and grind. Little Kagami (or should he say Big) rose quite splendidly and prominently to the occasion. "Are you skilled in anything other than working the railways, shoveling coal, and sexual activities?"

Kagami gave him a baleful look. "I already said I'm not a rentboy."

Akashi smirked slyly up at him. "I have determined you are good with your hands, as well as comfortable with other people getting naked in front of you, so perhaps becoming a masseur might suit you."

Kagami leered back. "Betcha say that to all the cabin boys."

"Not really. This is the first train I've ridden alone in a decade." 

"Really?"

"Really. And I'm glad I found such charming company."

"Betcha say _that_ to all the cabin boys."

The assumption didn't sting, not like the previous one did. Akashi was still determined to debunk it. "I have never indulged in the services of a prostitute, or a man posing as one, until tonight."

Kagami blinked in confusion. "So...then, how did _you_ get so experienced? Books? You look like a book-reader. Or...you've got a regular squeeze or something?" His frown turned to worry. "I'm not gonna get chased out of your company by some lover toting a gun and claiming I've seduced you, am I?"

"I have a somewhat regular partner that has not visited in some time. He reminds me a little of you," he repeated drolly, laughing inwardly when Kagami rolled his eyes. "He would not be jealous, even if he found out. In fact, I'm convinced he would probably ask to join us next time."

Instead of balking at the thought like most people would, Kagami only looked more amused. "That kind, huh? Sounds randy."

"He never does this," Akashi gestured to their position, cradled close to each other, "partially because he felt it would besmirch his manhood if he indulged in a little cuddling, and partially because he was always looking to marathon the other beds in the house whenever he came over." Aomine had always disliked the time between bouts that Akashi took to clean, tidy things up, and generally wind down before starting the process again. He would much rather simply hop into a fresh bed with someone else - predictable, since Aomine liked people from all walks of life, as much as he griped about their 'incessant, neverending set of problems',and yet devoted his life to solving them.

"More for me," Kagami affirmed easily. One big hand brushed against Akashi's hip and he directed the touch to his sex. Kagami felt him carefully, his rough fingertips almost abrasive on his sensitive cock, not pressing hard but just...examining him, pulling the foreskin back experimentally. His nail briefly dug into the hole and Akashi hissed, cock jumping, straining for more contact. Kagami laughed lowly, sweet and comfortable in Akashi's ear. They were scooped together like two spoons.

"I know what I could be. You could make a new position in your household for me, called 'Recreation and Relaxation Specialist," Kagami proposed, his voice a husky blur of wet heat against his cheek. He tightened his fist just as Akashi started to talk, so that he gasped instead. Arousal warped his spine, sending his hips snapping into Kagami's fist even as he hooked one leg backwards to grind against the hardening cock pressed against his tailbone.

"And...what would this position entail, exactly?" He had no idea how he had managed to say that entire sentence.

"Hmm, dunno...what do you think?" Kagami began to kiss and lick down the curve of his neck and shoulder, careful not to leave marks where they could be seen. Anywhere else was fair game, though Akashi was so peppered with lovemarks he could hardly see where there might be space for more. Yet perhaps there was no need for new ones; the brush of lips and fingers tracing the old ones sent an electric thrill through him. "Me lounging in your bed all the time with no clothes?"

"That would not be in your best interest, as I have a housekeeper," Akashi huffed a laugh, thinking of what his housekeeper would do if she found a naked, unknown man in her master's bedroom. Scream, perhaps. Tell Kise, likely. And Kise...Kise would laugh and demand a spin, possibly sucking Kagami's brains out through his cock, and then take Kagami shopping, if only as a luggage carrier. 

"Well, then what else could I do?"

Akashi thought, and then smiled. "You could come bring me coffee when the paperwork piles too high...with no underthings on. Modern inventions all focus on convenience and ease of access, after all."

"Oh," Kagami moaned as Akashi reached for the oil and slicked him up. Then he thrust eagerly into the space between Akashi's legs, brushing Akashi's ballsac with every move. 

"Or perhaps we could go in disguise, to the districts you frequent, and you could show me where and what plebians do for fun. Certainly there are places to meet others of our ilk? Red rooms, rope bindings, cleverly placed holes in walls, and the like?"

"Sounds like - _nnhhah_ \- you know more than I do."

Akashi _had_ heard most of it from Kise. "We can explore together, then. Or perhaps I could find you impatiently eating dinner without waiting for me and bend you over the dinner table -"

"You're gonna kill me before you can actually scout me, I swear. You are like - _ahhngh!_ \- the absolute king of kinkiness, don't even try to deny it."

"I am the king, of this and everything else" Akashi smiled as their bodies rocked together. Pleasure arched his back, curled his toes, sent little bolts of lightning through his veins. "Everyone says so.

"And it is good to be king," he whispered, and smiled in the half-darkness as the two of them tumbled over the edge together.

\---------------

The next morning they exited the train together onto the platform, where Akashi could see a dark blue head bobbing above the rest, and made his way towards it. He itched a little under his clothes; the summer weather was too warm, and he was back in a tie and suit jacket and pinchy shoes, his hair perfectly slicked back though it felt like it might melt with just five minutes' exposure in the sun.

Kagami was right behind him, hovering a bit nervously at his left shoulder, before he stopped dead. The crowd parted dramatically around the four of them, as Kagami stared at the person who had come with Aomine, the latest household employee Akashi had hired.

"Kuroko," Kagami croaked. He looked as if someone had punched him in the stomach. "What are you doing here?"

Kuroko's eyes were wide too. "That's the question I should be asking. Why are you with Akashi-sama?"

Kagami's couldn't seem to budge his eyes away from where they were drinking down the sight of his old lover, clad in nondescript shirt and slacks. Because this had to be what Akashi was witnessing - the reunion of Kagami with his 'good friend'. No wonder Kuroko had seemed so melancholy when he arrived last week; he had left behind something, someone of great personal worth, to come take this job. And now it was obvious why he had not been on the train with Kagami; most likely he had never received Kagami's message.

It took Kagami too long to snap out of his daze, a full minute where Akashi caught Aomine examining the newcomer with narrowed eyes. He didn't quite hover over Kuroko, but the desire to do so was obvious; trying to protect his childhood friend from any blowouts and unpleasant feelings. But Akashi, even after only one night, was fairly sure of Kagami's willpower, and so was the only one in the group not surprised when Kagami answered, still wide-eyed, "I'm here...for a job. For Akashi...sama." The moniker sent a bolt of lust through Akashi. Perhaps he had erred in forbidding Kagami to call him that.

Kagami abruptly twisted away from Kuroko to look down at the other, slighter redheaded figure next to him. "I'm here for you, so...what would you have me do?" 

"You have done very well so far," Akashi said evenly, as to not aggravate the situation further. He could see Kuroko's eyes darting from him to Kagami and back, and Aomine doing the same. "Continue carrying my bags, if you would."

"Understood, sir."

They stood staring at each other for a beat too long, perhaps, because Kuroko's throat worked and in the next moment he turned away to face the front of the station. Akashi could not determine if there were tears or not - but the desolate hunch of his shoulders was telling enough.

But Kagami either didn't want to see, or didn't notice. He only had eyes for Akashi and his calm. He took his cues well, though it had only been one night; and his obedience, oh, it sent Akashi's mind soaring with possibilities. Now he straightened at Akashi's fortifying hand between his wingbones, and marched in tandem at his back towards the exit as if he was stomping on all his troubles, all his fears, ignoring Kuroko and Aomine padding wordlessly before them, Aomine's face caught in a sneer of disbelief.

No, Akashi didn't think he would need to worry about Kagami ever losing his way.

 _Just don't forget_ , he thought with a side-eye at the V of Kagami's shirt where sweat was starting to gather. _You belong to me now._

And because there was no one there to see, Akashi smiled.

===================  
===================

[1] Ginga: the name of the old line between Osaka and Tokyo. Translated, it means "Milky Way"

**Author's Note:**

> Sequel not written, but plot under consideration. Thoughts?


End file.
